A news-based journal on the Boston restaurant scene. The owner of this blog is also the founder of Boston's Hidden Restaurants, a website that focuses on local dining spots.

Tuesday, July 01, 2014

Mario Batali Is Opening Babbo Pizzeria at Fan Pier in Boston

A year and a half ago, we reported that a New York-based celebrity chef, restaurateur, writer, and TV personality was looking to open a restaurant in the Fort Point section of Boston. Those plans ultimately ended up falling though last summer, but now we have learned that plans are back on to open the eatery at a nearby location.

The Boston Globe is reporting that Mario Batali is going to be opening Babbo Pizzeria at Fan Pier toward the western edge of the Seaport/Innovation District, with the 8,700-square-foot restaurant offering wood-fired pizza and pasta dishes and having separate bars for drinks, antipasti, and pizza, as well as an outdoor patio and private space for large groups. It had originally appeared that Babbo might open on Summer Street in the Fort Point neighborhood, but plans to open there never came to be, and by August of last year, it appeared that there were no plans in the works for Batali to open a place in Boston for the foreseeable future.

If all goes as planned, Babbo Pizzeria could be open at Fan Pier by the end of the year, according to the Globe.

[August 20 update: Universal Hub mentions that if the Boston Licensing Board approves of the plans for Babbo Pizzeria tomorrow, Mario Batali will pay $410,000 for the Castlebar's liquor license (the Castlebar was a Brighton bar that closed earlier this month). UH says that the mayor's office and several city councilors already support plans for Babbo.]